Old School Metal, with honors
alpha128 | Cleveland, OH USA | 11/12/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
""The Curse of Crystal Viper" (2007) is the near self-titled debut by this heavy metal band from Poland. With an album cover that looks like an updated Hail to England, and a classic sound that invokes Warlock and Iron Maiden, Crystal Viper prove that they studied at the old school of metal and graduated with honors.
Female vocalist Leather Wych (sic) sings in the higher/cleaner Doro Pesch of Warlock style, rather than the lower/gruffer style used by near namesake Leather of Chastain. After hearing her voice, I wasn't surprised to learn that Crystal Viper recorded a cover of "Mr. Gold" (from True as Steel) for a Warlock tribute album.
Iron Maiden is also an influence. "Shadows on the Horizon" almost directly lifts the sing-along part from Maiden's "Heaven Can Wait" (from Somewhere in Time). "City of the Damned" includes the kind of galloping bass line Steve Harris made famous. Finally, "I Am Leather Witch" is so Maiden-esque, it could have been titled "I Am Iron Maiden".
This CD has a good variety of material that keeps it interesting. Speed metal tracks like "The Last Axeman" and "The Fury (Undead)" are balanced by slower tracks such as the rollicking pirate metal "Island of the Silver Skull" and the epic "Sleeping Swords".
Sometimes the diversity is found in the same song. "Demon's Dagger" starts out like a slow ballad, morphs into a fast rocker two-thirds in, and then ends as it began.
This is an impressive debut. I can't wait to hear what their postgraduate work is like. Their second studio album "Metal Nation" is scheduled for a 2009 release.
4 stars / magna cum laude"
